Warner Bros board rejects Paramount bid; America’s oil blockade in Venezuela, and more
The World in Brief from The Economist
The Economist
4.1 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 18 December 2025
⏱️ 5 minutes
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, you're listening to the free edition of the world in brief from The Economist. |
| 0:11.2 | As a reminder, if you subscribe to The Economist, you'll get access to a deeper look at the day ahead, updated three times a day. |
| 0:20.1 | If you're already an Economist subscriber, |
| 0:22.6 | visit Economist.com slash espresso or visit our espresso app to start listening. Here's today's |
| 0:29.5 | free edition. |
| 0:35.2 | This is the world in brief from The Economist. |
| 0:41.9 | Our top stories. |
| 0:45.2 | Warner Brothers Discovery's Board rejected a hostile $108 billion takeover bid from Paramount, |
| 0:52.6 | warning shareholders that it imposed significant risks. |
| 0:57.1 | Warner cast doubt over how Paramount planned to pay for its offer, citing, quote, gaps, |
| 1:03.7 | loopholes and limitations in documents provided to it by the streaming giant. |
| 1:09.6 | It recommended accepting a merger offer from Netflix instead, |
| 1:13.6 | which is battling Paramount full control of the movie maker. |
| 1:18.3 | Claudia Shinebaum, Mexico's president, |
| 1:21.8 | urged the United Nations, quote, |
| 1:23.9 | to prevent any bloodshed in Venezuela after Donald Trump ordered a, quote, complete blockade |
| 1:31.4 | of oil tankers under sanctions entering or leaving the country. |
| 1:37.0 | Venezuela is surrounded by the largest armada in South America's history, according to Mr. Trump. |
| 1:43.6 | Nicholas Maduro's autocratic regime is reliant on money from oil exports. |
| 1:51.2 | In a bellicose speech to his defense ministry, Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, |
| 1:56.5 | said the goals of its war in Ukraine, quote, will undoubtedly be achieved, whether through diplomacy or military means. |
| 2:05.5 | He said Russia welcomes, quote, substantive talks with America, but called Europe's leaders |
... |
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